I loved that our need for fitness united us instead of dividing us. I loved watching him workout in his home gym. In fact, watching his massive muscles flex and contract under the strain of heavy weights was like having my own personal porn channel. And when I could, I’d join him, although that was always cut short when one of us inevitably got distracted by the other, - usually me, because he drove me to distraction every single day.
And I never begrudged him traveling, even though I was missing him more every time he left, it was absolutely worth it when he got back and spent an entire night worshiping me. That I also knew he was finding it hard to be apart made it easier.
Walking into the bedroom, I discovered him sitting on the bed in his boxers, staring down at his phone with a frown on his face. But as I got closer, I realized it wasn’t his phone he was holding, it was mine.
“Babe, what’s up?”
He looked at me, his brows knitted together. “Your phone was ringing.”
“Okay...”
“Luck, there are seventeen missed calls from ‘dickhead’,” he air-quoted, raising his eyebrow at me. “I take it this is your ex-boyfriend.”
I nodded, pulling the t-shirt over my head.
“How often does this happen?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. Once a week, maybe.”
His eyes bugged in horror. “Once a week?”
“I think, I don’t know.”
His frown reappeared, deeper, and mixed with an expression of worry. “Emerson, this isn’t normal. This guy is clearly tapped.”
I’d never really thought about it because the second it stopped ringing I’d forget about him. And I’d been ignoring him for so long now that I realized it never actually occurred to me how weird it was, beyond it being super annoying. I just figured he’d stop eventually.
“I never answer.”
He pulled me in to stand between his legs, his hands running up and down the backs of my thighs, making me lose my train of thought. “I know, sweetheart, but it doesn’t matter. This is fucked up behavior. He knows you don’t want anything to do with him, right?”
“Yes, I’ve told him several times. We broke up nine months ago, and I haven’t spoken to him in ages.”
He nodded, as though confirming he was right in his assessment of Richard’s craziness. He lifted my phone up, holding it to my face to unlock it. I watched him go through the contacts to find Richard’s details.
“What are you doing?”
“Blocking him.” He looked up, daring me to challenge him, but I didn’t because I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t done it already.
I shrugged again. “Okay.”
He threw the phone on the bed once he was done, pulling me down to straddle him. His hands moved across my legs and up around my back, nudging under the fabric of my tee. I could feel the calluses on his palms scratch along my skin, although it only served to comfort me. He leaned in, his nose against my chest and breathed deeply before letting out a contented sigh.
“So, are you excited about your first live game tomorrow? Because I, for one, cannot fucking wait to see you cheering me on from the stands wearing my jersey. Even thinking about it is making me hard.”
And if I needed proof, his dick twitched underneath me.
I leaned down to kiss him, lightly pressing my lips to his. “I am, very much so.”
I hadn’t been to watch him live yet, which was mostly down to a combination of our schedules not matching up, but a small part was also because I knew that it would change our relationship slightly, propelling it forward. All the time we’d spent together had been just us, keeping to ourselves, growing closer day by day. We’d been learning about each other at our own pace, without thinking about when we’d fully acknowledge ourselves as a couple to the outside world.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I was also slightly reticent about being outed, besides Mallory and my mom, no one knew.
After that conversation where Jessie had been bragging about her friend, I still hadn’t told anyone at work except Ashley, although it wouldn’t be long before they figured it out, especially as he’d turned up to more than one of my classes with a protesting Felix in tow, each time causing a small scene with both the riders and the rest of staff team. Mikey and Jessie had even started turning up on their days off in case the boys made an appearance. I just wanted keep him to myself for a little longer without hearing another story about someone who’d fucked him once.
His hands moved into my hair, pushing up from the base of my neck, running his fingers through the long strands, bringing a halt to my spiraling thoughts.
“Good. And you’ve made plans for coming with Wolfie and Fred? You’re all going to arrive together? Because I’ll already be there, remember?”
